New Delhi, April 1: In a major relief, a Special CBI Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case. Apart from Robert Vadra, his close aide Manoj Arora was also granted anticipatory bail. Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and Arora will have to furnish a personal bail bond of Rs 5 lakhs.

While the court granted Vadra anticipatory bail, it also asked him to cooperate in the investigation carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court also said both Vadra and Arora won't leave the counrty without prior permission of the court. During the hearing, the ED opposed Vadra's bail plea and sought custodial interrogation of him. Vadra was harassing the investigative agency and countered his claims of “political witch hunt” and harassment, the ED said. BJP Alleges Priyanka Gandhi-Robert Vadra Link in Land Scam in Haryana and Rajasthan.

"Harassment is being caused by Robert Vadra. We say let him come and join the investigation. It is held in camera and he comes for the sessions accompanied by many people including his wife and then he claims that he is ‘hounded and harassed’ to subserve political ends. Vadra is attempting to over-awe the system,” ED said through Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) DP Singh on March 28.

Vadra's lawyers KTS Tulsi and Abhishek Manu Singhvi denied the allegations of the ED saying that his client does not own any property in London. "It is a half baked case. ED is seeking custodial interrogation of my clients, it’s questionable. The agency has already interrogated them so many hours and so many times. All the seized documents are already under their custody," Tulsi told the court.

The money laundering case is related to Vadra's ownership of overseas assets worth 1.9 million pounds and entities to evade tax.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 01, 2019 04:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).